Sticky Notes
by LiteraryDinosaur
Summary: Regina returns home to find a trail of sticky notes left for her. Does she really want to find out where they end, though?


**Sticky Notes**

 **I own nothing except the mistakes.**

When she woke up that morning, the last thing Regina expected was for Henry to ask her to spend the day at the stables with him. The second last thing she expected was for him to then ask if he could spend the night with his Grandparents after the stables. She had a mountain of housework to do, but she said yes to the stables, of course, because any time she got to spend with her son was a blessing. She also, begrudgingly, agreed to the sleepover. So, they dressed in their riding attire, packed a picnic lunch and a night bag for Henry, and set out for the day; and while Henry was obsessively checking the time, Regina paid no attention to the Sheriff's cruiser that had just driven down her street for the second time in five minutes.

-xo-

It was a little after four in the afternoon when Regina opened her front door. Her house was silent, and although this wasn't an uncommon occurrence, it did stir something akin to an unsettled feeling within her. Or, that feeling could have something to do with the numerous sticky notes she noticed around the main foyer; sticky notes that she had definitely not put there, and Henry knew better than to stick things to the doors or the walls... So, who had been in her house? Rationally, she put the picnic basket and her handbag down next to the front door, something she'd yell at herself for later, before turning around to close and lock the door.

Her heart jumped a beat when she came eye-level to a pink sticky note on the back of the door. She knew that writing, she was sure of it. It took her approximately seven seconds to recognise the scrawl on the pink sticky note as that of Emma Swan's.

 _R,_

 _Hope you had a good day at the stables._

 _I know you're wondering how, or why, I was_

 _in your house... Go to your bedroom_

 _without reading the notes on the way and_

 _I'll start to explain. You can read the note_

 _in your bedroom._

 _E._

 _P.S. The next one is yellow._

 _#1_

Regina read the note three times, and each time gave her the same confused feeling and formed numerous questions. Why _was_ Emma in her house, and how _did_ she get in? She took the note off the door, took two seconds to see if it left any sticky residue behind, and then turned around to sweep the rest of the main foyer, trying to asses just what was going on.

But, as per Emma's request, she headed straight up the stairs and towards her bedroom, not stopping to read any of the notes she passed on the way, despite her curiosity. She'd play this little game of Emma's, and then she'd enjoy yelling at the blonde for so many things, not least, breaking and entering, being in her bedroom, and leaving messy notes all over the house.

Entering her bedroom, the first thing she noticed was the yellow sticky note on her bed. The second thing she noticed was the pair of folded clothes next to the note. Cautiously she walked over to the bed, but not before sweeping her eyes around the room to see if anything had been disturbed; and Emma Swan was lucky that nothing seemed out of place!

 _R,_

 _Henry gave me his house key –_

 _don't roll your eyes! Have a shower_

 _and put these clothes on. They're not_

 _a power suit, but they are hella_

 _comfortable._

 _E._

 _P.S. The next one is blue._

 _#2_

Regina let out a laugh, because yes, she did roll her eyes. She should have know that her son was in on this – whatever _this_ was – because really, her son and his biological mother were as bad as each other. She placed the note on the bedside table before turning her attention to the clothes on the bed. She lifted the first item, a grey t-shirt with ' _Property of the Boston Police Dept. Athletic Division'_ written on the front in black writing. Her first thought was, _How_ _do you even have this_? Closely followed by, _I am_ most certainly _not wearing this_! She placed the shirt to one side, and to her horror – although she shouldn't be surprised – there were a pair of jeans folded neatly underneath.

She lifted the jeans to see if there was anything underneath them, and sure enough, there were a pair of purple, fuzzy bed socks, complete with little grip hearts, next to another yellow note.

 _For once don't argue and just_

 _do what I ask._

 _Please._

 _#2.5_

 _P.S. It's the one after this that's blue..._

Well, she _did_ say please, Regina reasoned, although she was going to loathe being in such unfamiliar and frankly, unappealing clothes. She took the clothes, bed socks and all, in to her ensuite, where she found a blue note stuck to her mirror. She placed the clothes down on the bench before taking the note off the mirror.

 _R,_

 _Enjoy your shower, get dressed_

 _in to the comfy clothes, then head_

 _to Henry's room for the next note._

 _E._

 _P.S. The next one is orange._

 _P.P.S. Don't forget your socks._

 _#3_

Regina gave one last disdainful look at the clothes Emma had given her before stripping away her own clothes. While she absolutely loved the stables, and the smell brought back somewhat pleasant memories, she was glad to finally be able to get the smell off her skin and out of her hair. She turned the shower taps on and waited for the temperature to settle before stepping in and allowing the water to flow down her body. Showers were perhaps Regina's favourite part about any day, and admittedly, she sometimes opted to have them morning and night, just because she loved the warmth and isolation that they provided. She didn't have to be a Queen, or a Mayor, or even a Mum in the shower; she got to be Regina, hidden away from prying and judging eyes.

She hadn't meant to take long in the shower, but it was twenty minutes later she was stepping out on to her lush bath mat. She quickly dried herself and attempted to dry her hair before opting to put it in a ponytail instead. Since she was home alone for the evening, she presumed, she didn't bother reapplying her makeup, but instead quickly dressed in the clothes that Emma had left for her and went in search of the next note. Had she been thinking properly she would have realised that it didn't matter what she was wearing, or even if she continued to follow the notes, because really, she _was_ home alone and who was ever going to know?

Entering Henry's room she noticed the note, or two, rather, stuck to his dinosaur lamp. Before reading them she did a quick scan of the room, noting if anything seemed different. She didn't enter Henry's room often anymore. Since they had come to a truce of some sort, she respected his privacy and he stopped thinking that everything she did was suspicious.

Noting that nothing much had changed, she plucked the orange squares off the lamp and read them.

 _R,_

 _Don't be mad at the kid for giving_

 _me his key... I sorta made him. Now,_

 _aren't the clothes comfy? I thought so._

 _You better be wearing the socks! I have_

 _a matching blue pair because Mu- you_

 _know what? Never mind._

 _E._

 _#4_

 _R,_

 _On to why I've done this. You need a_

 _break from life, Regina. You work so hard_

 _and I know life isn't kind to you. It's time_

 _someone did something for you. And, admittedly,_

 _it is not all for purely selfless reasons..._

 _Try the spare room next._

 _E._

 _P.S The next one is green._

 _#4.5_

Regina had to read the second note a few times to really understand the words. Well, she understood that she worked so hard, and that life wasn't kind to her, but the rest of it? She refused to believe that anyone would want to do something for her. At least, not without something in return. But Emma did mention that it was not exactly selfless, which made her curious, because really, what could Emma possibly want from her other than her son? And it wasn't like she didn't already have that.

She tucked the two notes in to the pocket of her jeans and set out to find the next note. It was a little unnerving to know that Emma had been, so far, in most of the rooms in the upper floor of her house, and she presumed it was the same for the lower floor. She opened the door to the spare bedroom and noticed the bright green note on a pillow straight away.

 _R,_

 _I know it seems foreign – someone_

 _trying to do something nice for you._

 _But you're going to have to trust me._

 _It's hard, I know that for sure, but_

 _you can trust me, I promise._

 _Now you can read the note on_

 _the stairs._

 _E._

 _P.S. The next one is pink._

 _#5_

Regina scowled, remembering the note that she saw on her way up the stairs. The one that was stuck to the window on the landing midway up the staircase; the window that she used to spend hours looking out of at night time, making sure that people weren't coming to pillage her house, or worse, in the night. She stuck the note in her pocket with the two from Henry's room and shut the door again on her way out. Why she even had a guest room, Henry had always asked her, because they had never once had guests stay over.

She walked down the first set of stairs and grabbed the note from the window, making sure there was no sticky residue left on it. She was going to have to clean the window anyway, because although there was no residue, there was a fingerprint and a smudge mark – no doubt both of those belonging to a certain blonde.

 _R,_

 _Don't kill me for sticking it to the_

 _window! I'll clean it! Now, you have_

 _to bear with me for the next part_

 _of this ok? If you can promise me_

 _that, you'll find the next note in the_

 _living room._

 _E._

 _P.S The next one is yellow._

 _#6_

She walked down the rest of the stairs and turned left at the bottom, entering the living room. Now she thought about it, she rarely entered this room at all. It was more Henry's domain than hers, with the television and his Nintendo 64 hooked up to it. She preferred her study, with her fire place, bookshelves, and decanters of apple cider. The yellow note stood out, almost mockingly, on the smooth finish of the piano.

 _R,_

 _Why do you have a piano? Do_

 _you even play? Does Henry? So_

 _many things I don't know about_

 _either of you two. But, I want to know,_

 _Regina. I want to know so much about_

 _you both, if you'll let me. Try one of_

 _the foyer tables._

 _E._

 _P.S. The next one is blue._

 _#7_

Regina mused to herself first, _Why_ do _I have a piano?_ All it did was remind her of the lessons she hated taking as a child, and gave her something to dust every week, but, like many things in her life, she had never questioned why she needed the piano. Then she asked herself, _Why does she want to know about me? Henry I understand, but me?_ Something wasn't sitting well with her. People only ever wanted to know things about her when they wanted something from her or were trying to ruin her. It was how her mother worked, how the King worked, and how his horrid little daughter had worked. She read the note again, trying to make sense of what Emma was talking about. There was an underlying tone of... Hope? Expectation? Regina wasn't entirely sure, but she was becoming more and more intrigued.

She found the next note on the foyer table to the left of the dining room. It sat next to one of her crystal vases, and although there was a sticky note on the other table to the right of the dining room entrance, it still looked out of place.

 _R,_

 _When we first met I wanted to like_

 _you, for Henry's sake if nothing else._

 _He was convinced you didn't love him,_

 _but I didn't want to believe him. I had_

 _to believe that I gave him his best_

 _chance. But you didn't make it easy._

 _Look right._

 _E._

 _P.S. The next one is yellow._

 _#8_

Regina thought back to when she first met Emma. She was determined to hate the woman, for various reasons, of course, and she succeeded more than she expected. It didn't last long, though. Their game of back and forth acts of hatred amused her; well, except for the abuse to her beloved Honeycrisp Apple Tree. But then Emma started to get to know her, tried to be nice to her, and Regina found that she couldn't hate the woman, because other than Kathryn, no one else had ever bothered. She couldn't pinpoint exactly when her feelings for the woman had changed, but at some point, they certainly had.

 _R,_

 _But then I got to know you, well,_

 _I tried to, anyway. You didn't make_

 _that easy either. Can you see a pattern?_

 _At some point I realised that you were_

 _just like me, though; damaged and_

 _probably lonely. I hate seeing that_

 _in another person, even someone_

 _that I couldn't seem to get along with._

 _Study – alcohol stash._

 _E._

 _P.S. The next one is purple._

 _#9_

She saved the note in her pocket along with the rest and turned towards her study. She was right, there weren't many areas within the house that Emma hadn't been in, and she thanked the Gods that the woman didn't know she had an attic and a basement, because she didn't much feel like climbing in to the roof, nor visiting the basement. She headed straight to her liquor cabinet, which always remained locked, expecting to find the note of square paper on top, and she was rewarded with two notes.

 _R,_

 _Before the curse broke, all any_

 _one ever saw in you was the cold_

 _hearted Mayor, and afterwards they_

 _all saw the Evil Queen. I could never_

 _see the Evil Queen, though. I only ever_

 _saw a broken woman drowning in a_

 _world where she didn't belong._

 _I saw you, Regina._

 _E._

 _#10.5_

 _R,_

 _You tried so hard not to let me see_

 _you, but you couldn't always wear_

 _your mask. I noticed you when you_

 _thought you were hiding, and I_

 _think I always will. I don't know your_

 _pain, and I don't know your past; hell,_

 _I barely know your present, but I want_

 _to be part of your future._

 _Try the desk._

 _E._

 _P.S. The next one is yellow._

 _#10.5.5_

She had to read the notes through a second time before she could fully grasp what the words actually said. She had never seen this side to Emma, and if she were honest, she wasn't quite sure she was understanding it now. _Does Emma want to be my friend?_ She asks herself, because honestly, she isn't really sure what's going on. On shaky legs she walks towards her desk and spies a yellow square stuck in the centre.

 _R,_

 _Like I wrote earlier, you deserve_

 _good things to happen to you too._

 _Although there isn't much I can do,_

 _there isn't much that can stop me_

 _from trying. I once told you that_

 _your happiness is important too,_

 _and I meant that. I want to help_

 _you find your happy ending._

 _E._

 _Dining table._

 _P.S. The next one is orange._

 _#11_

Regina has to sit down on the edge of her desk for a few moments, trying to process what she has been reading. So many times in their somewhat-friendship Emma had promised that Regina deserved happiness too, and that she was not the sum of everything that she had done back home. Emma had been teaching her how to heal and move on, how to apologise and how to regret without anger. And really, Emma had been teaching her a lot more than just that, like how to love Henry without suffocating him, and how not to kill the Charmings every chance she got.

She wasn't sure she wanted to continue on with this little hunt of Emma's – it was causing her more anxiety and confusing emotions than she'd felt in a while. And what was she supposed to do when she got to the end? Call the blonde so they could chat or get together and braid each other's hair while talking about how much they appreciated each other? After a few minutes her curiosity got the better of her and she headed out of the study and towards her dining room table.

 _R,_

 _I want to help you find your_

 _happy ending. But, most of all,_

 _I want to be your happy ending._

 _Kitchen._

 _E._

 _P.S. The next one is blue._

 _#12_

Regina had to place both of her hands on the dining room table to keep her standing upright. All of the air had escaped her lungs and her bones had given up trying to support her. Her mind was reeling – she most certainly was not expecting this. To be fair to herself, though, she wasn't quite sure what she was expecting. When she was told to put on the unfamiliar clothing and follow the rest of the notes without question, she hadn't really been able to come up with anything that would make this whole thing make sense. She still wasn't having much luck with it.

Once she was able to support herself again she pushed herself away from the table and headed towards the room to her right, towards another note that could push her over the emotional ledge she was balancing on. She spotted two notes in the kitchen, one on the kitchen island and one on the fridge. Upon closer inspection she realised that she had to read the one on the island first, so she did.

 _R,_

 _I know it seemed like that last_

 _declaration came out of nowhere,_

 _and perhaps it did. Trust me, I was_

 _not expecting it at all, but it just_

 _sort of hit me, and it was all I could_

 _think about for months. I haven't told_

 _anyone, just incase this all goes down_

 _really badly... But give me a chance_

 _to explain first._

 _Check the fridge._

 _E._

 _#13_

 _P.S. It's orange... in case you didn't see._

Regina had to take a few deep breaths before she could read the one on the fridge. Everything was moving so fast, and Emma wasn't even there to help her through it or explain anything. Over the past few weeks, or even months, Regina had noticed that Emma had become somewhat of her rock; she was the person Regina would turn to when she needed help calming down, or needed something explained, or anything, really. She turned to the fridge, not quite ready to read what was written, but willing herself to do so anyway.

 _R,_

 _There are some cherries in the fridge,_

 _as well as a bottle of wine. Grab them_

 _both and look for my next note. Among_

 _all this emotional stuff, I did say that_

 _I wanted you to relax and have a_

 _good time. Things will be clearer soon,_

 _I hope. Try the notes on the door to_

 _the basement that you didn't think I_

 _knew about._

 _E._

 _#14_

The only thing Regina could do at this point was laugh. If she thought too much, she'd cry, so instead she opted to laughing at the absurdity of it all. Cherries and wine? The basement door that Emma shouldn't have even known about? She never talked about the basement and the door to it was through the kitchen, in the small room behind the study. Henry was barely even allowed down there, although why, she didn't really know.

Still, she'd come too far now to stop following the instructions. She'd come too far when she slid those ridiculous purple socks on her feet almost an hour ago. So, she opened the fridge doors, and sure enough, there was a bottle of wine that looked suspiciously like it had come from her own cellar, and a glass bowl full of deliciously red cherries. She took the requested items and closed the fridge again, and before she could think about this any further she was standing in front of the door that lead down to the basement; another thing about her house that she didn't really think about.

 _R,_

 _I don't know how you thought you_

 _could keep something like this from me._

 _Has this been under your house the_

 _whole time, because damn, we've wasted_

 _time doing other things! This is where the_

 _relaxing part of your life comes in._

 _You need to do things for yourself once_

 _in a while – put your feet up, watch a movie,_

 _take up a hobby – anything really._

 _E._

 _#15.5_

 _R,_

 _And that part of your life is going to_

 _start right now. Head down the stairs_

 _and embrace the part of you that you've_

 _tried to hide away for so long._

 _You can trust me, remember? I'll be there_

 _when it all becomes too much, I promise._

 _E._

 _#15.5.5_

 _There was that word again,_ Regina thought, _promise._ So much was riding on that one word, and she did hope that she could trust Emma. All of the notes that she'd read since she returned home had been confusing – half of them were about her and how she deserved happiness and needed to relax, and the other half were about Emma and her desire to be a part of Regina's life. She wasn't sure how the two fitted together, and honestly, she wasn't sure she was ready to find out.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Regina opened the door down to the basement and descended the steps, surprised to find the lights already on. She got to the bottom of the stairs and glanced around. It was true, she had only been down there once before, and that was so many years ago that her memory didn't do the room justice anymore. She looked from the pool table in one room, to the marble chess set upon a table in a corner, to the cinema style seats situated in front of a large white screen. This was the sort of place that Henry would love, and Emma too, _had I ever allowed them to see it,_ she thought sadly.

Remembering that she had the wine and cherries in her hands, she moved from the bottom step and in to the basement. As she was heading around the cinema seats and towards the coffee table in front, she noticed another note on one of the seats. She placed the wine and bowl down and picked up the pink note.

 _R,_

 _I wasn't joking when I said I wanted_

 _to be part of your life. You deserve_

 _happiness and I want to help you_

 _make good memories. Pick a movie_

 _you think will help you relax and I'll_

 _get the wine glasses._

 _E._

 _#16_

Reading the final line of the note, Regina's head snapped up as she looked to the door that lead to a small kitchenette. For the past hour she had been walking around her house reading notes from a woman that she didn't think was actually in the house with her, _but is she?_

'Emma?' she called out meekly, not sure if she wanted her to actually be there or not. Her heart was racing, and although she was unable to pinpoint any one emotion, she knew that if Emma wasn't actually there, she would be very disappointed. But before she could continue that thought, Emma walked out from the kitchenette with two wine glasses in her hand.

'Wine?' the blonde asked nonchalantly, as if she hadn't left numerous sticky notes around the mansion, half-subtly, half-not-so-subtly expressing her feelings.

Regina just stared at the women, as if she wasn't actually expecting her to be there. She hadn't had time to process her feelings, but as Emma got closer and closer to her, one thing was becoming abundantly clear.

She wanted to kiss the woman.

And so she did, failing to hear the two wine glasses that Emma was holding smash to the floor.


End file.
